Worth It
by PhantomWynd
Summary: Is it worth it to want to look out for her at this time in the war? Is it worth it for her to watch his moves, when she keeps catching a glimpse of that little black skull on his arm? Is it worth it to fancy each other, if they're both too dense to realize? -Drinny, set in TDH, not consistent with events in the book- Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

She didn't realize it would be this bad. Snape, the Carrows. It was almost Halloween, and many from her year had already been tortured for detention. Some to the point of having to spend time in the hospital wing.

Ginny, luckily, had escaped the more severe punishments so far, somehow. But now it was time for dinner, time to go down to where the Carrow's were watching every little move, doling out punishments for no apparent reason. the other teachers were supposed to send students to them for punishment, but only did is there was no way to avoid it.

Finally making her way from her room, Ginny met up with Collin in the common room, greeting him with a small nod. No one ever went anywhere alone anymore - It just wasn't safe. After Dennis and Neville joined them, Ginny begins leading the way to the Great Hall, laughing and joking with the three boys, though she stopped when she saw none other than Draco Malfoy making his way towards them steadily. As Head Boy, he could give anyone punishments as he saw fit, though if you paid attention, he didn't do it as much as you'd think, coming from a Death Eater. She had seen him turn a blind eye more than once, and she started keeping count. His total from this week was seven.

"Weasley," he snapped, looking at the red-head as her companions unconsciously step closer to her. "Professor McGonagall would like you to come to her office after dinner." Glancing at her friends, confusion clear on her face, though she just nods, and with a quick 'Thank you', moves around him, glancing back at Malfoy curiously, only then walking off with her friends, and only once they were out of earshot, did she dare to say, "Huh." just as Dennis pushed her slightly.

"I thought you were dead meat back there, Gin!" Unable to help a loud laugh, she just bumps her hip against the younger boys. "So did I." Not even trying to hide it, she feels her eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion, then shrugs and shakes her head. _I wonder why Malfoy was the one she sent.._ Though, with another shrug, she continues to the Great Hall, her small smile being wiped clean by the time they get there, the wide double doors open.

Meals were always spent in silence, the only noise being people eating food then exiting the Great Hall, no longer staying any longer than they had too, though eating habits never changed. Ginny had hoped for not having to see someone shovel food into their mouth, but Dennis had quickly proved to eat just like her youngest brother.

Finishing her meal as quickly as she could _without_ looking like a dog, Ginny quickly stood up and exited the Hall, spinning slightly as too look at the Slytherin table, and a small frown crossed her face at the lack of a certain blonde-haired boy. Shaking her head again -something she seemed to be doing a lot of lately where he was concerned- she just sets off along the quickest path to McGonagall's office.

Her long red hair was tucked into her cloak, her hood drawn over her head. Only, her attempt to disguise who she was obviously did no good when one hand clamped across her mouth, an arm wrapping around her waist to pull her backwards, one of the many tapestries in the castle concealing the pair behind it. Freezing, Ginny's eyes widened as she took in the situation. A hand clamped tightly over her mouth, the arm around her waist was strong, holding her in place with ease. The muscled chest she was against was strong, and with a small sigh, Ginny slumped against the boy; only to jerk forward when she hears Draco Malfoy's drawling voice in her ear hissing, "Be quiet."

Twisting around the glare at the blonde boy, Ginny waits for him to say something else, anything else, her fingers brushing against the end of her wand. "I can't keep protecting you forever." Freezing at his growled words, Ginny stares at him with wide eyes. "I know you. I've gone to school with you for five years. I know you won't stop, so be careful, Ginevra."

_Ginevra? Not Weasley or Weaselette or She-Weasel.. Why? And why _Ginevra_? Not Ginny? _Shaking her head, Ginny just turns to leave Malfoy standing there, unable to stick around any longer.

~.o.O.o.~

He couldn't believe what he had done, and he just watched the red head walk away, her fiery hair tucked away inside her cloak once more.

He had kept her from the Carrow's attention so far at risk of his own neck, making them focus on others. But she was getting cocky, doing more dangerous shit almost every day. And for some reason, he, Draco bloody Malfoy, wanted to keep an eye out for Ginevra Weasley, a, well, Weasel! The youngest weasel, at that. And, he didn't even know why.

Well, no. That wasn't exactly true. He knew exactly when it had started. the year before, when she had comforted him. She, a Weasley, comforted him, a Malfoy, upon finding him crying. They never talked again, except for jabs and glare, but he started noticing her, especially when she played quidditch, which she was superb at. The way her life seemed to tinker across the Great Hall. How he walked in on her and Potter, in an empty classroom. He took 20 points from Gryffindor, each. and for weeks, had to endure every time those pretty brown eyes were on him, they were glaring at him. Like it was _his_ fault they were making out where anyone would find them!

but no matter what, he never forgot how she comforted him - then Potter attacked him.

~.o.O.o.~

Ginevra Weasley didn't know what had just happened, other than it was weird it was. With a quick glance at her watch then a smirk settling across her face, she took off. The Carrow's would still be eating; Now was a perfect time, despite Malfoy's recent words.

After finding a completely deserted hall, the witch pulls her wand out, and murmurs a quick spell before starting to move it over the wall, red letters appearing beneath her wand, finishing with a golden design before stepping back to look at her work. _Dumbledore's Army: Still fighting!_ Murmuring the words under her breath then smirking, she takes off, quickly escaping back up to her dorm, though she pauses occasionally to write similar messages.

Had she been caught, there would be Hell to pay. Everyone knew that, and some students, all in Slytherin, would volunteer to help the Carrow's patrol. They were always rewarded, and Ginny hated to think of how. Finally reaching the common room, she meets up with Dennis and Collin right outside. "Where's Neville?" The fear was evident in her voice, and Collin reached out to touch her arm softly. "Don't worry, he saw Luna and went to talk to her. Was it you?"

As Ginny basked in the wave of relief, she almost missed her friends second question, and in her pause, he went on, assuming she didn't know what he meant. "Peeves came and told Filch someone was 'vandalizing' the castle. The Carrow's overheard, and we saw some new messages on the wall on the way back."

Smirking, Ginny couldn't help a nod with a quick "Yes". Finally climbing into the common room, she freezes at the scene before her. One Carrow, the brother, was holding Neville as his sister, Alecto, cackled with her wand pointed at him.

"Think doing it during dinner, we wouldn't find out? Do you think we're stupid or something? We'll-"

"_I_ think you're stupid, seeing as you have the wrong person. Does that count for anything?" stepping forward, shaking off the Creevey's grips, she ignores Neville as he shakes his head, and just goes on. "So take me, not him."

At once, the siblings glanced at each other, staring at one another for only a few seconds before nodding at the same time. In that split second, Ginny regretted her decision, then let a glare fall from her eyes at the two as she straightened her back. She knew why they had said yes; Neville, they had caught many times already. He had the bruises to prove it. But she, Ginevra Weasley, sister of Potter's best friend, hadn't had anything happen to her, and with another nod, Amycus dropped Neville, who took a few stumbling steps forward before being caught by Dean and Thomas. Turning to Ginny, he moves closer as Alecto points her wand at Ginny.

Grabbing her arms, the rest of Gryffindor could only watch as she shot them a reassuring smile before being shoved back through the portrait hole roughly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Woo! Had that written for it seems like forever, though probably only a month. I have a couple more chapters, but I'd really prefer from critiquing before I post them. So, please, review? It would make me extremely happy.! :) And, as a fanfic author I look up to says.. "Remember, a happy author writes better and faster! So review and make me happy!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The pain was bearable, though only just. She had lost track of the times she had heard the word 'Crucio', lost track of the number of kicks to her body by Crabbe as Goyle repeatedly cast one of the three unforgivable curses joyfully, the Carrows occasionally stepping in to help. Her back was curled, her body in a fetal position on the ground with her hands clenching into fists and her toes curling as short screams of pain escaped her lips as another well-aimed kick hit her side.

It could have been hours, minutes, or even seconds since it had started, and hours, minutes or seconds until it ended, but they finally let up, one of the Carrow's having said, "She's done. Much more, she'll die."

At those few, simple words, Ginny felt relief flood of her body. _Thank Mer- _"_Ah!_" One last shriek escaped her lips as Goyle got a kick in, only afterwards struggling to her feet, a clearly pained expression on her face. Stumbling through the halls and up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, she quickly collapses into a chair, shaking off everyone's help , only accepted a small glass of water from Neville and allowed an arm around her waist from Alice, her best friend from her own house.

_"You filthy blood traitor. Staining all that is good about pure-blood, you and your muggle-loving fool of a father."_

_All Ginny did was grit her teeth her teeth, refusing to take the bait. It was already going to be bad; Anyone with half a brain knew if they could get her to spill about the trio's where about, Voldemort would be more pleased than could be expressed in words. If she went crazy in the process, who cared?_

_So, as much as Ginny wanted to take the bait, she just grit her teeth and kept walking, wondering just where they were taking her, and it turned out to be Amycus' office. Only then did his sister turn to look at the small red head, her voice deadly calm and she uses her wand to brush the red hair back, dragging the tip of it over Ginny's pale skin._

"_It's been a long time since my brother here, had any _pleasure_... You can either tell us what we want.. or my brother will do whatever he sees _fit_, to you._

"Ginny? Ginny!" Shaking her head slightly, Ginny gets to her feet, heading across the still packed room and up to the room she shared with Alice and two other girls, wishing once more for home and her own room, where no one would hear the noises she made at night. Crawling on her bed and drawing the curtains shut tightly around her, Ginny just laid down in the middle of the bed under the blankets, eyes shut tight. Yes, she kept remembering the Cruciatus curse, but other than that, she felt.. violated. There was no other words for it. Violated. Dirty. Used.. shaking her head fiercely, Ginny just curls up even more before somehow drifting into a fitful, nightmare-filled, sleep.

~.o.O.o.~

The next morning, Ginny stayed in bed after everyone left, only then getting up and making her way to the showers, turning the water as hot as it would go, letting it hit her skin and make her hiss in pain at the heat, just standing until she got used to it before reaching for a sponge, starting to scrub at her body, and she _kept_ doing so, over and over again, until her skin was red, sore and close to bleeding. Only then did she exit the shower, wrapping one of the main fluffy towels around her body, and another around her body. Everything was deserted, all students now in classes. Quickly getting dressed, Ginny makes her way to the kitchen, where she was greeted by two house elves.

"Harry Potter's Wheezy!" Unable to help but give the house elf a small smile, who, as always, was wearing his mix-matched socks and battered tea-cozy, Ginny nodded slightly and murmured a soft hello to him and the other house elf. Hermione would be glad to see her; Winky had obviously grown to like her position at Hogwarts, and beamed brightly up at the red-head.

"What can we get Harry Potter's Wheezy?" Smiling down at Dobby, with his tennis ball yellow eyes, Ginny couldn't help a small frown at his next words, though not in displeasure - More in dislike of the question. "How is Harry Potter?"

"I don't really know how Harry is; I'm sorry. We can only assume he is okay. No news in good news at this point, because if he was found and killed, it would surely be everywhere." Nodding, his ears flapping back and forth, Dobby grinned at her once more. "Thank you, Harry Potter's Misses Weasley."

"Please just call me Ginny. And may I get something to eat? I missed breakfast, you see."

At once, the house elves were practically racing towards her, holding platters of food. Toast, juice, eggs, candies and treats - Anything you could think of, really, and Ginny couldn't help but laugh, watching as the elves placed the sweets into her pockets, obviously for later, and handed the breakfast items to her. "Thank you!" Laughing softly again, a grin on her face, she quickly downed the food and drink in a manner that would make Molly cringe and Ron clap. With another 'Thank you', she shifted her weight to her other foot to leave with only a small wince, and a slight hiss of air between her teeth.

As Ginny turned to leave, her pockets once again had food shoved into them, along with buttered toast into her hands. Unable to help another laugh, Ginny finally escaped into the corridor, eating some of the food on her way up to the common room once more, ready to curl up in her bed once more. But (of course) classes ended at that moment.

Freezing, Ginny watched the class come out of the door in front of her - Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sixth years. Quickly finding Luna, Ginny catches her arm, fighting down the intense pain between her legs that had erupted at the fast movement.

"I have to talk to you guys. Same as always." Slipping off once more, Ginny just ducks behind the closest tapestry, planning to wait the ride of students out. But did that happen? Of course not. Because she was Ginny Weasley, and Ginny Weasley had the worst possible luck today, because as the majority of the crowd thinned out, she could hear extremely quick footsteps, and a worried voice saying, "I could wear it was _somewhere_ around here.."

And, much to Ginny's horror, a small hand enclosed the edge of the material hiding her from sight, and she had all of about two seconds to move slightly to the left, hopefully out of the person's sight. And, for a moment, light shined into her small hidey hole before it returned to almost pitch-black darkness. Finally Ginny was able to sneak back to her room, where she spent the rest of the day avoiding everyone, even when her dorm mates came in at lunch and between classes.

~.o.O.o.~

For some reason, he kept his eyes pealed. He didn't know why, he _really _didn't know _why_ he felt as though he needed to watch for the youngest Weasel. But as each hour went by, and he saw no sign of her in the halls or at lunch, Draco realized his searching might be reasonable after all.

Only, of course, it wasn't! She was a _Weasley_. The youngest Weasel, the little Weaselette, yet for some reason he, he was attracted to her. _Wait, what?_

Shaking his head quickly, the blonde heir to the Malfoy fortune just strode on to dinner, freezing atop the steps when he hears a round that had long ago been ingrained into his brain: the soft tinkling sound of her laugh, the carefree way she joked around with her friends, who looked extremely uneasy. Smirking, Draco strode down the stairs, having to catch himself to keep from stumbling when a fist connected with his shoulder.

Spinning around, his wand making its way from his cloak in mere seconds, his lips already forming a curse, Draco's grey eyes narrow when he sees who it is, and quickly cuts himself off and slips his wand back into his cloak when he sees Blaise Zabini, his best friend. Crabbe and Goyle were more cronies. Muscles and fists, fellow sons of Death Eaters, while Blaise was actually his friend. What with Lucius' cruelty, and Blaise's lack of a father, they had sort of drifted together since childhood.

"Cool it, mate." Rolling his eyes, the famous Malfoy smirk crossed his face as Draco muttered, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"Did you hear?" Falling into an easy pace beside him, Draco shot a glance at the dark-haired boy, the knowing smirk on his face grating on Draco's nerves. "About?" He finally drawled, taking the bait as the reach the large oak doors.

"The Carrows apparently got bored of each other, and for the punishment of a student, _used_ her before giving her to Crabbe and Goyle." The whispered words caused Draco to freeze for a moment before nodding slightly, regaining his composure with the ease of someone who has done it many times. "Was she at least worthy of the Carrow's _affection_?" Croaking the last words out, the blonde sat seemingly confidently near the head of the Slytherin table, surrounded by other seventh years.

"Yeah, the redhead from Gryffindor.. the Weasley girl. Jenny, maybe?"

He froze. _No. Blaise is wrong. Except.. Blaise is never wrong. Not about stuff like this._ And, somehow, he knew it was his fault. If only he hadn't tried to warn her yesterday.. Turning his head to look at the redhead, Draco didn't bother to correct the other man sitting with him, and as he watched her, his eyes slowly narrowed.

Because there she was. Laughing and joking with her little friends, like nothing was wrong. _Blaise has to be wrong.. she's acting like nothing has happened. Oh Merlin, let Blaise be wrong. For once, let Blaise be wrong._ Shaking his head once more, Draco slowly starts to eat, keeping his eyes on the Gryffindor table.

"_Dra_-co. Stop paying attention to those stupid Gryffindor's and look at _me_, baby." Turning to glare at the pug faced girl beside him, Draco just shakes his head and stands up, a low laugh emitting from his mouth. The stupid girl had never known how to take a hint as a child, and that hadn't changed when she got older. Shaking his head once more and jerking his hand from her grasp, Draco just shoots one more look over at the red-head before leaving the Great Hall, making sure the doors slam behind him with a bang. _Blaise was wrong. _It was the only acceptable option.

* * *

><p>This chapter, nor the first, hasn't been beta'd, though the rest willshould be from now on.  
>Before anyone gets mad about what the Carrow's do, do you really think they'd be able to go on raids? And, eventually, they'd get tired of each other [Because for some reason I see them doing it together] And hey, they did torture students. Why not like that?<br>So.  
>What did you think of Draco's POV? What the Carrow's did? Ginny's reaction? The kitchen scene?<br>And, special thanks to Sarahear121618 for being the first reviewer.!  
>Regular thanks to ManonVarendaz and littlemewhatever93 for also reviewing.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

They all wanted to know what had happened to her; of course they did. She didn't truly believe something different could or would happen. So she always told them the same thing: Nothing surprising. Because, it wasn't. Not really, if you just think about it. Voldemort probably never allowed them on raids anymore; they were needed to stay and keep the school on 'track'. The rest of the teachers, were, in their opinion, 'Dumbledore loving fools' and 'disgraces to the wizardry community'. So they'd touch her. Use her. And probably other students, too. But finally, as midnight rolled closer and closer, Ginny shot Neville a look, and together they rose, heading out the portrait hole and to the room of requirement, where Ginny stepped aside to let Neville do the work' he truly understood the room.

Luna was probably already there's he always beat them. And, when they entered the room, Ginny wasn't disappointed. Not looking at either of them, Finny made her way to one of the plush chairs surrounding the crackling fire in the hearth. Closing her eyes and sighing, Ginny opens them again after a few moments of collecting herself to murmur, "It wasn't surprising. Not really. But it wasn't normal, I don't think. First off.. the brother, he.. used me. He.. yeah. You know. Then, normal. Malfoy's cronies cruciatus curse and physical punishment. The norm." Finally daring to meet her friends eyes, Ginny just says, "It's fine, and I'm fine. But, I want you to know so someone knows. I want to make them pay. I don't know when or how, but they will pay for they did, especially if they ever do it again, to anyone else."

Poking the fire with a stick, then catching the end of it on fire, Finny pull it to her face to watch the flickering flame, then sighs and tosses it back into the flame, debating on whether to tell them about Malfoy's warning. He only said my name, no one else's. But the real question, if you're honest with yourself, is why did he ever warn me..? I'm a Weasley, he's a Malfoy. Maybe Neville and Luna could help me figure it out..? No. Not yet, at least.

"That's it. We should go, get back to our common rooms before it's too late. Plus, I booked the picture for tomorrow. I like the team I have, they just.. need some work, some time to play together."

"The match is coming up, isn't it? Second weekend of November?" Grinning, Ginny nodded before making her way to the exit, waiting for Neville there.

"I can't wait. I seriously want to crush those snakes, especially Malfoy."

"Gonna keep on him for the trio?" Laughing, Ginny nodded once more, bumping her shoulder against Neville's. "Of course! What kind of sister would I be otherwise?" Finally stepping out into the hall after a quick goodbye hug to Luna, they hurried from the room, ready to catch as much sleep as possible before morning, knowing there was a long day of quidditch in front of her tomorrow.

~.o.O.o.~

Her red hair turned to fire under the sun, clashing with the maroon robes as she sped across the pitch, quaffle tucked under her arm. Two others raced next to her, Groft and Robins. Keeping his eyes on the three, he frowned. they were good, Ginevra working Potter's Firebolt perfectly, and the others were also on nice brooms- though none as good as his own Nimbus 2001.

Another Groft was high above the others, obviously Seeker, and in that moment he fell into a dive as the keeper blocked Robins' throw, which even as a seeker, he knew was a good, tough throw. His only comfort was knowing he had a good, strong team himself- And, he knew from a reliable source that they had no reserve players.

As he watched their practice continue, he couldn't help a pang of.. he didn't ever know what. Weasley was, it seemed, strict yet firm, reining the younger ones in quickly and effectively. The seeker was constantly catching the snitch, though not always very quickly.

"How about a practice match?" Walking out into view, Draco could almost see her eyes narrow as she wheels Potter's broom around, snapping something at her team, which he quickly worked out to be 'Stay there', or something along those lines when they stayed hovering in the air as Weasley landed in front of him, though she didn't dismount her broom right away.

"What was that, Malfoy?"

"A practice game. Your team against Slytherin's. I would have thought that to be clear. "-safe." Finally, her voice had broken through his thoughts, and instead of showing how startled he was to be caught off guard, he drawled out a "What"loving -what?- the way her chocolate eyes hardened.

"I said, that doesn't sound safe. Not with your team, at least. So, thanks, but no thanks." and, with those words, the little Weasel called her team from the sky, telling them how well they had done as a whole before summoning the ball crate, letting the seeker place the tiny golden snitch in, along with the quaffle, before starting to tackle the bludgers.

And all the blonde could do was turn and talk away while he still had some pride left.

~.o.O.o.~

"That infuriating, no good or anything-"

"Ginny." Demmie's voice cut into her rant, her uh, fifth (or was it sixth?) rant.

"Sorry, Demmie, it's just-"

"You fancy him and don't want to admit it." Freezing, flat out freezing at Alice's words, Finny finally breaks into laughter. "Me? Like the ferret? Yeah, right!" Still laughing as she walks down the corridor with her two best friends, Ginny continually shakes her head. "You're insane." But then, as quickly as her laughter started, it stopped. Luna was running closer, panic evident on hre face, which immediately set Ginny's nerves on edge. Luna never, ever panicked. Not like this.

Ignoring Dem and Alice, Ginny reached forward to grab Luna, who was reaching for her. It's Neville. Bad. He's in the infirmary."

Staring at the blonde for only a few seconds before heading that way with her, Ginny pauses for a moment to shake her head at her two teammates. "No, go back to the common room. Spread the work; keep everyone in. The Carrow's are out for blood. And if you see anyone good on the way back, make sure they know."

~.o.O.o.~

"Three broken ribs, his skull was cracked, and his leg broken. I've fixed all that, but he'll need a couple days at best to heal. The bruises will fade with time, and it might even be better to wipe his memory of the incident. Not without his permission, of course, and if we are ever able to take them to Wizengamot, it would be better for him to have the memories of this, though I'm sure there's enough evidence from others.. I'm just not sure."

Staring at the round face of the boy laying next to her, Ginny pushes his hair back as Luna held his hand, one of her many charms inside of one of her own hands. Perhaps a healing one, or maybe luck?

"Is there anything we can do for him?" As she stared hopefully up at Madam Pomfrey, Ginny almost felt her heart actually break as she shook her head. "No

* * *

><p>AN. Um. It looks weird. Hope it doesn't post like that..  
>I am <em>so<em> sorry for the long wait! I've been sick af the last few weeks, and it really knocked me on my butt. And it's a cliffy; whoops! Haha.  
>So here goes: Sorry for the long wait, the shortness of the chapter, and the cliffie.<br>Enjoy! I'm on winter break, so hopefully I'll be able to update every few days. At least until school starts again. :) Oh, and Merry Christmas!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The castle was, as usual, decorated in spooky cobwebs and pumpkins, and it felt _wrong_. How could someone, anyone, celebrate at a time like this?

More and more students had fled home with the help of Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and the like. Ginny herself had gotten many pleas to come home; mum, dad, Bill, Charlie, the twins.. they all wanted her home. "Safe". But how _could_ she run away with some many others trapped here, the outside world being worse than their home. Not the mention Malfoy! What was _wrong_ with him? She had little to gain by returning home. She knew, _knew_ that her parents would lock her away, to keep her safe. Which is _useless_. She could help. She _was_ helped by staying at Hogwarts.

She had gathered them together. Those who remained. And they planned. Tension rose alongside the joy of Halloween as the feast loomed closer.

~.o.O.o.~

"Gin, pass me the eyeliner, please - black."

Nodding and tossing it across the loo her and her dorm mates were getting ready in, she quickly turned back to the mirror she had been looking into, her own makeup already done.

Her brown eyes were lined in thick black eyeliner, mascara on her eyelashes, silver and black eye shadow across her lids, and a pink/red lipstick that actually _didn't_ clash with her hair by some miracle. With a quick glance at her watch, Ginny called out a five minute warning, moving to put on her dress; a silver low-dip (almost uncomfortably low, to be honest) with only one shoulder, which clings until halfway down her bicep before galling loosely with a thin, sparkly material. Black gems adorned the dress, starting thickly around the top then gradually decreasing. Yes, she knew she was wearing Slytherin colors - that was the point. With one last smirk into the mirror, Ginny slipped her old, worn wristwatch off and instead opted for starting to place her jewelry on. Well, not _hers_- Demmie's. She was almost as rich as Malfoy, her blood just as pure also, but her family had never once strayed from the light - for the most part. No one talked about her elder brother, though. Before long, Ginny's pale neck had a silver chain against it, a silver heart with emerald gems at the end, which rested comfortably above her breasts, a matching bracelet on her arm with a sleeve, the bare arm wrapped in a bracelet with a waterfall of diamonds hanging down.

"Gin - you look - whoa." Grinning at Demmie, Gin just slipped a pair of black flats onto her feet before replying, "Thanks. Dem. You too. And you, Alice!" Each was decked in the colors of other houses - Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively.

"I still can't believe you're doing Slytherin; you could still change real fast if you want." Shaking her head, then heading out the door, Gin finally replied. "No, I can't. Luna'll be doing Slytherin. I can't abandon her."

Finally they made their way into the castle to the Great Hall, surrounded by a sea of the other house's colors. Catching sight of Luna, Ginny moved to her at once, catching her arm so they could stick together. They had to go in first; they were the only two willing to do Slytherin, so they needed to go in first, before they had a chance to react.

"Let's do this." After Ginny walked in, the others followed - and went to the table of the colors of the houses they were wearing. Therefore, Ginny and Luna had to go to the Slytherin's table. Snabbing two seats before they could react, Ginny shoots a smirk down the table, realizing all too late who she was next to - Malfoy. "What are you _doing_? Have you lost your bloody mind, woman?"

Ignoring him, and all the others Slytherin's that were giving the pair dirty looked, Gin smiled at Luna before striking up the most random conversation she could handle, though it somehow ended up at quidditch.

"I think that the Cannons might actually have a fighting change this year – Ron would be happy. Of course, the Harpies will still beat them, though."

"Ha! The _Harpies_? No way, the Bulgarians will run them into the ground."

Turning to look at Malfoy, her brown eyes piercing his stormy ones, Ginny waited a few seconds before tipping her head back with a laugh. "Oh really, Ferret Face? Why do you say that?"

"Krum, of course. He's ten times better than all the Harpies combined."

Nodding thoughtfully, as though she was thinking about it, the red-head took a few seconds before laughing right in his face. "Gwenog Jones has more talent in her pinky than the Bulgarian's entire team has, least of all Krum." Unaware to the two, the rest of the Slytherin house watched on with rapt attention as their head boy's lip curled up into a sneer.

"Stop lying to yourself; Bulgaria has Krum."

Glancing at Luna with barely concealed laughter, the redhead finally let a small snort escape, then the air burst into laughter, much to the displease of the blond. One by one, people turned to look at the Slytherin table, then winced as Draco practically growled, "What is so damn funny?"

"You.. you sound like.."

"Ron!"

When Ginny finally replied, Draco's every got hard, and once the laughs died down -a few were from his house own, even!- he raised his eyebrow at the Weasel and drawled, "How exactly is that so?"

"Well, until Viktor bagged Hermione-"

"-_He_ shagged _her_? Likely! Was he so small that he had a resort to a mudblood?"

"No, _he_ had enough class not to stick himself into every slag that flirted with him. Why? Jealous, Parkinson? Didn't get a turn with the world renounced quidditch star?"

Snorting without looking at the pug faced girl beside her, Ginny turned her attention back to Malfoy with ease. "And, to answer your question, Ron idolized Krum until he, as I was saying, bagged Hermione. Now he hates him. But Krum came to Bill's wedding earlier this year. Guest of Fleur's. He was actually pretty cool. _He_ had the guts to stay and fight against the party crashers. They didn't even have the courtesy to leave a gift, either!" Staring piercingly across the table at Draco for a few more seconds, Ginny finally turned to look back at Luna, picking up the conversation right where it had left off.

~.o.O.o.~

She had to have lost her mind; it was the only reason she could be acting like this. But she was, he could see. The way she had put Pansy down; it was more than slightly funny, but also something he'd do completely fine. Could she actually be so.. so, _stupid_ as too think this was a good plan? He was sure it was hers; there was no way any other sane person could have come up with the plan, if only for the fact that they were scared shitless of the Carrow's. But for whatever reason, she wasn't.

After what had happened a few weeks ago, she spent a couple days.. not herself, but came back with a fire in her eyes he didn't recognize. And it almost -_almost_- scared him. Not for himself, but for her. And that fear could do nothing but increase as he watched the Carrow's throughout the meal.

* * *

><p>AN: This was supposed to have the first match of the year included, but I decided to post something rather than nothing, and I'll have all weekend to chill at the pool and work on it for you guys! Sorry again for the shortness; it was supposed to be about twice as long, but there's just some things you really can't get out of, no matter how much begging and pleading you do. :p Silly parents.  
>Anyhow! I hope you enjoy, and what do you think of Ginny's plan? What do you think the Carrow's will do? Hehe..<br>p.s. - Not beta'd, but ran through a couple grammar/spelling checkers real quick to make sure there's no silly mistakes. Hopefully they caught everything and the next chapter _will_ be beta'd by an actual human being.  
>Until next time,<br>-Phantom


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